Climate Explorer provides several different layers available for map evaluation, including the Sea Level Rise layer depicted here to allow local decision makers to assess coastal flood risk.
A new online visualization tool provides maps of climate stressors and impacts as well as interactive graphs that show daily and long-term observations from thousands of weather stations across the United States. The Climate Explorer is part of a larger package of tools, the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (toolkit.climate.gov), developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies to enable decision-makers to take action to boost their climate resilience using data-driven tools, information and subject-matter expertise to make smarter decisions.
Leaders from across the country have clearly emphasized the need for access to scientific and technical information from the federal government to support their decision-making, said Dr. John P. Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. By incorporating scientific data into climate-relevant, science-based and data-driven tools, the Climate Resilience Toolkit meets this need. This toolkit will ensure communities have the actionable information they need to prepare for the impacts of the changing climate.
A wealth of federal data are available through the Climate Data Initiative as well as the National Climate Assessment, and the new site maps these layers to provide a decision-support tool. These resources are designed to serve interested citizens, communities, businesses, resource managers, planners and policy leaders at all levels of government.
The layers on the Climate Explorer are tied to Taking Action stories, with more than 20 real-world case studies describing climate-related risks and opportunities that communities and businesses face. The stories document the steps that companies and governments are taking to plan and respond to climate impacts as well as details on the tools and techniques they're using to improve resilience.
